The links for most of the info directly below are NYT"s and IBT'sIf it's quoted, it's from there.But, first, the mainstream media is playing the divide card. In NYT's article headline“Protesters’ Clash Shows Region’s Divide”When the corporate NATO war media uses the word “divide” they want you to believe that the ''divide" is between parties of equals. It isn't. This type of narrative enables the media to present the simplified black vs white story line. My thinking when I read this is boy I need to be wary!
NYT's “With cries of “Allahu akbar,” ( I don't like to read that...) Arabic for “God is great,” thousands of protesters in the capital of Ukraine’s Crimea region, a tinderbox of ethnic, religious and political divisions”
A ‘tinderbox” oh dear, how combustible! That is what I would call a buzz word- It evokes certain thoughts.As stated previously, but, worth repeating -Crimea is an autonomous entity within the borders of UkraineOnce wikipedia get it censorship in order I am certain what I am quoting will change but here it is for today Feb 27/14
Crimea is now an autonomous parliamentary republic, within Ukraine,[6] which is governed by the Constitution of Crimea
The Crimea has a population of approximately 2.5 million.
Quoting wikipedia “The peninsula thus has 2,352,385 people (2007 estimate)
So roughly 2.5 million is not a stretch
*Crimean Tatars, an ethnic minority who in 2001 made up 12.1%
Crimean Tatars make up approximately 12 percent. Approx 60 to 64 percent are ethnic Russians and approx 23-25 percent are Ukrainians. There is certainly nothing in those stats that would demonstrate a divide- as in equals- as in black vs white. The fact of the matter the vast majority of inhabitants of Crimea are ethnic Russians.Yesterday we saw clashes in SimferopolAbout those cries of Alluh Akhbar? Suspicious. After reading and hearing about the NATO mercenaries( Syria) chanting that mantra as they committed horrific attrocities At the end of this article ... Aha... I have good reasons for my suspicions- stay with it, we will get thereNews of Russia conducting exercises
Eight hundred miles away, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was ordering a surprise military exercise of ground and air forces on Ukraine’s doorstep on Wednesday, adding to the tensions with Europe and the United States and underscoring his intention to keep the country in Moscow’s orbit.
On the ground- It appears that we have preventative measures taking place. Which are likely absolutely necessary to keep the fascists out of town
In a sign of heightened tension, road blocks flying Russian flags appeared Wednesday on the main thoroughfares leading to Sevastopol, a Crimean city dominated economically and politically by the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet. About 25 miles from the city center on the road from Simferopol, men in blue uniforms and others in green camouflage clothing stopped and inspected all vehicles.
The orders ( for exercises) came as thousands of ethnic Russians gathered outside the regional Parliament in Crimea’s capital, Simferopol, to protest the political upheaval.
“Crimea is Russian!” some of the protesters screamed as brawls erupted with rival demonstrations by Crimea’s ethnic Tatars
I particularly like this part of the NYT’s article
The anger of a Muslim community known for its peaceful ways and its general lack of interest in radical strains of Islam highlighted
You know it's odd, in that I mentioned the Tatars to an old gal with some knowledge of this area- handed down from her mother and she said " Ohhh... those are bad people" Hmmmm..... So, I wonder are the Tatars known for their ‘peaceful ways’ I don’t know, myself? Should I believe the NYT’s when they inform me of this? Most likely, not. Time will tell if the Tatars are peaceful, but judging by the brawling that went on it seems doubtful. And when we get a bit further into this post, you will have even more reason to doubt the peacefulness of the Tatars- (though I am sure like all people there is good and there is bad)
IBT's -Tatars have a natural hostility toward the Russians ....
Really? Like an inbred hate? Weird.
Stalin expelled them on the basis they collaborated with Nazi’s..
And then this tidbit
“This would partly explain why the Tatars of today would form an alliance with ethnic Ukrainians against Moscow”
What would explain this? Is he telling us that the Tatars and some Ukrainians are allied now, as then, with the fascists? From the book-History of the Ukraine 2nd Revised EditionIndeed, it appears as if the Tatar population were more then happy to consort with the fascist/Nazis as they attempted to overtake Russia.So we see history repeating, yet again. The Tatars and the Ukrainians in bed with fascist western regimes..
The Tatars greeted the German army as liberators and were more then happy to collude with themThe Germans were happy to have the Tatars as conspirators because they would be more reliable then ethnic Russians
Sigh.... the more things change the more they are exactly the same Considering the Tatars are related to Turks and the Turks are part of NATO it should come as no surprise that Turkey is upping the anteTatars and Turkey: Turkey ready to put a claim in for the Crimea
Given the large Tatar diaspora outside of the Crimea, particularly in Turkey and some of the Balkan nations and parts of Western Europe, overseas Tatars are calling for solidarity with their homeland brethren and have asked the governments of Turkey and Western Europe to support the Tatars in Ukraine
HT brian for providing that link in English! Back to the Russians in Crimea
“I don’t want to live in a country run by fascists,” said Sergei Gaenko, a retired law enforcement official, echoing a widespread view here that Mr. Yanukovych’s ouster was engineered by the political descendants of militant Ukrainian nationalists who, during World War II, sometimes formed loose tactical alliances with Hitler’s invading army.
Love the NYT’s spin ‘formed loose alliances with Hitler’s invading army”Look, you either form an alliance or you don’t. But by using the 'loose' word before alliances the NYT's is attempting to play down or belittle the cooperation between Ukrainians and Hitler's invading armyAnd then there is this little bothersome bit, Again from the NYT’s. Second to last little paragraph.
A small number of militant Tatars, encouraged by extremists abroad, have tried over the years to recruit Crimea’s Muslims for jihad, but their efforts have fallen flat
Militant Tatars. Encourged by extremists abroad. So vague. What extremists? How did the extremists make there way into the Crimea? Have their efforts truly fallen flat? Or is this what the NYT’s want us to believe. I don’t believe it. The cries of Allah Akbhar and the history the Tatars have of aligning with fascists along with their reinforced hate tells me that the "foreign" ( Saudi/ Turkish colluders via the NATO terror pipeline) extremists would have lots of brainwashed fruit, ripe for the picking..More on those check points have been set up in Crimea around the area of Sevastapol &SimferopolCBC or G & M
The Interfax news agency reported Thursday that about dozens of men had seized the parliament building and regional headquarters overnight in the Crimean capital of Simferopol. Interfax said many of the men were armed, and that gunfire had been heard, but that no one appeared to have been hurt during the takeovers. Russian flags are now flying over both buildings.
Pro Russian protestor flying Russian and Crimean flags
On Wednesday, The Globe and Mail saw at least a dozen men wearing fatigues – supported by an armoured personnel carrier – standing under a Russian flag at a checkpoint erected roughly halfway along the 80-kilometre road from Sevastopol to Simferopol, putting it close to the administrative border that separates the Sevastopol municipality from the rest of Crimea and Ukraine.
The men did not immediately voice any demands and threw a flash grenade in response to a journalist's questions. They wore black and orange ribbons, a Russian symbol of the victory in the Second World War, and put up a sign reading "Crimea is Russia."
Good map at the end of the CBC pieceI can't post it here or it would be here, check it outCheck this out , though. The Castle of Love in Crimea Beautiful As mentioned Yats is appointed- Victoria Nuland's pet "Yats" is appointed premier by Ukrainian coup governmentUPDATES: jo6pac left an interesting read: Agonist thanks brian; Yes Tatars are in Syria killing Syrian civilians - confirmed collusion between the Tatars, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and of course NATO- link
Earlier, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, MP Mustafa Jemilev said that he had been informed that several Crimean Tatars had gone to Syria to fight on the opposition's side. Jemilev stressed that the Mejlis disapproved of their departure for Syria and called on Crimean Tatars not to travel to the country. He added that one should not speak about mass involvement of Ukrainian Tatars with the Syrian conflicts, as only several people had gone, of their own free will.
So, the Tatars are not as peaceful as the NYT's spin doctors would have us believe